Posted at 7:00 a.m.
The second half of 2022 on the Toronto Stock Exchange begins on Monday and is likely to begin as the first half ended, that is to say with volatility and a lot of uncertainty.
While the main Canadian stock market index has fallen 11% so far this year, it has nevertheless recorded two positive months (February and March). The TSX notably rose 4% in March. The worst month of 2022 so far was June, when the index fell 9% in Toronto.
Despite the disappointments, there have only been six sessions since 1er January where declines greater than 2% were observed and only two sessions with declines of more than 3%.
The worst session in Toronto this year came on June 16 with a decline of 3.1%. The first half of the year has just ended with three consecutive negative sessions in the country, and the high volatility is likely to continue as long as inflation remains rampant and the central banks do not change their tone.
The Quebec stocks that posted the strongest gains in Toronto in June were Bellus Health (+19%), Boralex (+11%), Saputo (+10%), Alithya (+10%) and Tecsys (+ 8%).
On the other hand, the most significant declines were observed in the securities of Dialogue (-42%), Bomber (-35%), Nuvei (-28%), Air Canada (-28%) and Lion (-27%).
The co-founder, president and chief technology officer of Coveo bought shares in the Quebec company specializing in artificial intelligence applied to e-commerce in the middle of the week. Laurent Simoneau bought a block of 10,000 shares on Wednesday. He paid a unit price of $5.11.
Cogeco Communications lost support from CIBC last week. Analyst Stephanie Price on Tuesday withdrew her buy recommendation on the title of the Quebec telecommunications company. More intense competition in the US market is a potential threat to Cogeco’s market share, she said.
Two leaders ofUni-Select just bought about $600,000 in shares of the Boucherville auto parts supplier. CEO Brian McManus bought 10,000 shares on June 23, while Mark Eburne bought a total of 10,000 shares during the June 23-24 sessions.
An administrator of Tecsys has just bought shares in the Montreal supplier of supply chain management software. Kathleen Miller acquired a block of 1,500 shares on June 15. This is the first time she has bought Tecsys shares since joining the board in September 2020.
The Quebec titles of Molson Coors and of Bellus Health hit a 52-week high on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week.
In contrast, those of Bomber, Heroux-Devtek, Guru, mdf trade, Air Canada, Transat, Power Corporation, National Bank, Lion, Nuvei, Dialogue, Goodfood Market, Cogeco Communications, Hexo and Neptune all hit a new 52-week low this week.
The action of Bellus Health appreciated substantially at the start of the week with no apparent news. The jump in the title of the biopharmaceutical company from Laval could be explained by a rally observed in the sector, according to analyst David Martin of the firm Bloom Burton.
The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ will remain closed on Monday for the United States National Day, July 4.